It has been more than 15 years since our last Boss Wagon adventure. C/D staffers have a weird penchant for taking normal station wagons and turning them into something John Force would view as reasonable. The last one was a Taurus wagon [“Gunning for Billy,” April 1993] that the folks at Ford kindly stuffed with a 220-hp V-6 SHO engine and drivetrain.

So here we go again. But where would we find a station wagon to become Boss Wagon VI? The Dodge Magnum, the last domestic station wagon, is dead, and besides, it got the hot-rod makeover with the SRT8 version. European wagons—the BMW 5-series, Mercedes E-class, Audi A6—also offer high-horsepower versions in their fleets. So the Boss Wagon formula would have to change a little. As in, how’s a screaming minivan sound?

The minivan, most agree, has replaced the wagon as the preferred family-transportation vehicle, and the Mazda 5 is the perfect place to start. It seats six, and despite a lack of hair-raising power, it’s fun to drive. The 5 is based on the Mazda 3, and our plan, with the assistance of Washtenaw Community College’s vehicle performance class, is to swap all the go-bits from the high-performance Mazdaspeed 3 version into a donor 5, basically making it the world’s only Mazdaspeed 5, if you follow. Besides, who couldn’t use a hopped-up minivan?

Mazda apparently feels any kind of publicity is good publicity and has agreed to supply a Mazda 5 for the transformation and dig up a Mazdaspeed 3 for us to scavenge its suspension, brakes, wheels, and 263-hp turbocharged four-banger.

So the Boss Wagon VI is a go, but what do we do with the livery? Mr. Csere himself suggested a Le Mans–winning Mazda 787B homage. Other suggestions included an A-Team paint scheme, an airbrushed Viking mural, and “murdered out” in flat black.

We could not make a decision about the exterior styling and have decided that our collective wisdom might not come up with the best paint job. So we would like to hear, or rather see, your ideas. Go to our contest page to get a template and all the details on how to submit a design. Stay tuned to the magazine for initial performance numbers and more on the build.

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